The field of the present invention relates to beverage makers, such as apparatus and methods for making coffee or tea, and more particularly for use in passenger service systems in commercial airlines or other vehicles.
In typical coffee makers, ground coffee is measured and placed in a receptacle over the coffee maker. In a drip type coffee maker, hot water is allowed to pass by gravity feed through the ground coffee and into the pot. A filter is positioned between the grounds and the pot to prevent grounds from entering the pot.
In a percolating type coffee maker, ground coffee is measured and placed in a receptacle. The receptacle has small holes in its wall, the holes being large enough to allow water to pass through but small enough to prevent grounds from passing through. As the water in the reservoir below the receptacle is heated, the heated water is circulated through the grounds.
In either instance, the ground coffee must be measured and placed in the receptacle requiring some sort of mechanism for measuring the ground coffee. Typically a desired amount of ground coffee is measured out with a measuring cup. The process is time consuming and requires certain cleanliness guidelines be followed by the user when handling the ground coffee.
To reduce handling requirements, the ground coffee may be pre-measured in separate containers, but the containers, typically a sealed pouch, still needs to be manually opened and poured into the receptacle. Another alternative consists of a pre-measured packet, the packet including the filter enclosing the ground coffee. The packet still requires clean handling by the user.